Bishop James r. grant, sr.
Leader 1971 - 2000
Our journey now leads us to the biography of one of the most beloved leaders of the Church of God and Saints of Christ (COG&SOC), Bishop James Rueben Grant, Sr.
James Reuben Grant, Sr., was one of two children, born May 12, 1917, to the late Chief Evangelist John William and St. Lucy Grant of Detroit, Michigan. As time passed, the Chief Evangelist was commissioned and sent to pastor the Cleveland, Ohio Tabernacle. James soon and quickly became an integral asset to his father, in the COG&SOC.
James married St. Margaret Taylor (later appointed Grandmother Sarah of the Daughters of Jerusalem and Sisters of Mercy) of Exmore, Virginia on September 8, 1941. To this union two sons were born; the late Evangelist James Reuben Grant, Jr. (1949-1991), and present-day successor and leader of the COG&SOC, Sr. Bishop Robert Dennis Grant, Sr. While he was respectively called Brother Jim, he began to serve in many local functions of the Cleveland Tabernacle.
As an Elder, he began to expound the Word of God, preaching the unadulterated truth and Gospel of Jesus Christ to the Saints and in the world. Following the death of his father, Chief Evangelist John W. Grant (1962), pastoral-ship in Cleveland passed into his hands. Elder Grant was elevated to the office of an Evangelist. In 1969, in Newark, New Jersey, Bishop John Wesley Dickerson, Jr. (his great uncle) consecrated him to the sacred office of a Bishop. In 1971, Bishop John fell asleep and the mantle was passed to Bishop James R. Grant, Sr. He served 29 years in the office of Chief Executive of the Church of God and Saints of Christ, traveling throughout the United States of America, South Africa, Toronto, Ontario-Canada, and the West Indies.
In January 2000, at the age 82, Sr. Bishop James Reuben Grant, Sr. fell asleep peacefully in his home in Cleveland, Ohio; but not before he consecrated his son, Evangelist Robert Dennis Grant, Sr., to the office of Bishopric. With a favorable vote from the Presbytery Board of the Church of God and Saints of Christ, "from a father to a son, the mantle passed to Bishop Robert D. Grant, Sr. "
…and our journey continues…